PHUKET: More tears fell today as the families of the two Thai victims of the Tiger Disco inferno accepted compensation of one million baht each and the promise of cremation expenses being paid.
In a bizarre twist, a tragic week when Phuket saw both fire and rain climaxed with an international boxing match opening the huge Tiger Live Band complex in Patong.
The new venue, packed with bars on the ground floor and with an entertainment venue upstairs, is just a few paces across Patong's Soi Bangla walking street from the charred wreckage of the Tiger Discotheque complex.
At least one huge billboard hoarding above the old disco, advertising the international boxing match that opened the new complex this afternoon, was badly burned in Friday morning's after-hours blaze.
Today Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha and national government Pheu Thai party spokesman Phrompong Nopparit joined Tiger Group owner Piya Isaramalai in mourning the four blaze victims, then opening the new facility.
The two dignitaries also acted as witnesses to the compensation payments.
The family of Nipawat Sutasorn, 36, joined the family of Dongporn Budkor, 32, in accepting one million baht each in compensation.
Khun Nipawat's mother, Somboon, shed tears as she walked through the burned-out disco, where a local motorcycle taxi driver claims to have photographed a woman's ghost soon after the fire.
It is not known whether an offer of compensation has been made to the family of British tourist Michael Pio Tzouvanni, 24, who also died in the blaze.
The body of the fourth victim, yet to be identified but thought to be a Frenchman, is still being examined by pathologists at the Police General Hospital's forensic unit in Bangkok.
Phuket officials have said that all 190 bars and entertainment venues on Phuket will be checked thoroughly after the blaze, which was reported in many languages around the world.
Flammable foam used as sound insulation in parts of the disco fed the blaze and sped the asphyxiation of the four victims.
The owner, Khun Piya, was among patrons and staff who jumped for their lives from an upstairs landing. Eleven people were treated for injuries but only one, Frenchman Benjamin Tallanotte, 30, remains in hospital.
He is being treated in Bangkok for second degree burns to 40 percent of his body. The cause of the blaze has yet to be established.
The boxing was telecast live nationally, with an enthusiastic audience.
Just a week ago, a Phuketwan journalist reported LIVE from the scene of the blaze: ''From my seat at Platinum bar, I can see the tattered remains of a large sign above the Tiger, advertising a big boxing fight on August 24.
''By then, the number of dead and injured, the cause of the blaze and the future of Patong will be plain.''
For Patong, the message today was plain: the show must go on.
In a bizarre twist, a tragic week when Phuket saw both fire and rain climaxed with an international boxing match opening the huge Tiger Live Band complex in Patong.
The new venue, packed with bars on the ground floor and with an entertainment venue upstairs, is just a few paces across Patong's Soi Bangla walking street from the charred wreckage of the Tiger Discotheque complex.
At least one huge billboard hoarding above the old disco, advertising the international boxing match that opened the new complex this afternoon, was badly burned in Friday morning's after-hours blaze.
Today Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha and national government Pheu Thai party spokesman Phrompong Nopparit joined Tiger Group owner Piya Isaramalai in mourning the four blaze victims, then opening the new facility.
The two dignitaries also acted as witnesses to the compensation payments.
The family of Nipawat Sutasorn, 36, joined the family of Dongporn Budkor, 32, in accepting one million baht each in compensation.
Khun Nipawat's mother, Somboon, shed tears as she walked through the burned-out disco, where a local motorcycle taxi driver claims to have photographed a woman's ghost soon after the fire.
It is not known whether an offer of compensation has been made to the family of British tourist Michael Pio Tzouvanni, 24, who also died in the blaze.
The body of the fourth victim, yet to be identified but thought to be a Frenchman, is still being examined by pathologists at the Police General Hospital's forensic unit in Bangkok.
Phuket officials have said that all 190 bars and entertainment venues on Phuket will be checked thoroughly after the blaze, which was reported in many languages around the world.
Flammable foam used as sound insulation in parts of the disco fed the blaze and sped the asphyxiation of the four victims.
The owner, Khun Piya, was among patrons and staff who jumped for their lives from an upstairs landing. Eleven people were treated for injuries but only one, Frenchman Benjamin Tallanotte, 30, remains in hospital.
He is being treated in Bangkok for second degree burns to 40 percent of his body. The cause of the blaze has yet to be established.
The boxing was telecast live nationally, with an enthusiastic audience.
Just a week ago, a Phuketwan journalist reported LIVE from the scene of the blaze: ''From my seat at Platinum bar, I can see the tattered remains of a large sign above the Tiger, advertising a big boxing fight on August 24.
''By then, the number of dead and injured, the cause of the blaze and the future of Patong will be plain.''
For Patong, the message today was plain: the show must go on.
The gravy train must keep rolling no matter what.
Posted by stuart on August 24, 2012 20:59